I, like many others, started doing my Magick believing that it
would work. I performed Ritual and other Magick using knowledge I
had gained from Grimoires and other Magickal writings.

During my first years of Magick my success was limited. At first I
could not understand why I sometimes succeeded and other times I
failed miserably. I always determined that I must have done
something wrong and that this was why the Magick had failed.

Sometimes this was true. However, for the greatest part, my
failure to perform Magick had nothing to do with how I did it. My
failure was in not KNOWING I could.

When Magickians first start on their paths they do so believing
that Magick is real. Either that or they have become fascinated
with some aspect of the Occult. Most start to fulfill some desire
while others are just curious. I don't think anyone starts with
the intent of performing the "Great Work."

What all beginning Magickians have in common is a lack of
confidence in their abilities and the understanding of how little
they know about Magick. The smartest Magickians NEVER lose their
understanding of how little they know. What many have in common is
their "Faith" that there must be something to Magick or others
would not do it.

As a foundational truth I offer the following. Magickians cannot
do Magick until they KNOW they can. They can go through the
motions, perform fancy Rituals, make pretty Temples, and dress in
nice ritual robes but it will make no difference in the
effectiveness of their Magick. They can have a mountain of "Faith"
and fail.

We are told that "if we have FAITH the size of a grain of Mustard
seed we can move mountains." I will say that "if we have KNOWING
the size of a grain of sand we can move the World."

So, how is a Magickian supposed to KNOW they can do Magick if they
can't perform Magick successfully to begin with? The answer is
simple. Actively practice.

By performing the LBRP and other rituals we start to "Feel" the
results of our Magickal acts. We can "Feel" the Magick inside
ourselves after performing ritual and we KNOW we have been
successful. The more we practice, the more we KNOW, because the
more we practice, the more we can "Feel" the Magick working within
us. Over time this "Feeling" of Magick grows stronger. We KNOW. As
we grow in Magick our "Faith" slowly gets replaced with KNOWING.

As our KNOWING develops it translates into other parts of our
ritual and those rituals start to become more successful. As we
have more and more successful rituals we start to KNOW our Magick
is working and that we were successful. We did the Magick! Instead
of believing in ourselves we KNOW our capabilities. Instead of
having "Faith" that the Magick will work we KNOW it will.

It is at this point that Magickians can really start to do real
Magick. Everything up to this point has been preparation. However,
most Magickians never think about the process they have just been
through. Most Magickians just KNOW their Magick works. At this
point "Faith" is no longer an issue. It no longer exists. It has
been replaced with KNOWING.

IMHO, as all of us look back we can see elements of this process
in our Magickal growth. Often without realizing it our Faith
became KNOWING and along with it came consistent Magical Success.

I am more or less new to magic (in practice) but I've read bits
here and there on and off for the last 12 years. I'm taking it
slowly (too slowly IMO), but then taking it slow is a good thing.
I'm currently working on meditations, keeping journals, and the
more minor basics (as I see them). After that I'll be heading into
the more protective aspects (shielding, banishing, binding, etc).
It will be a looooooong time before I have the "faith" to get into
the evocation of even the most minor of spirits.

Thus far, from reading the forums here and abroad, I've come to
the conclusion that magick is mostly Intent (desire?), Will( the
focusing of that intent), and Faith (either in yourself and/or
your god(s)).

As for KNOWING I can only assume that you mean belief in yourself
more then how many books you've read...as I've certainly read
enough to be on par with the more advanced novice.... But then I
run over to the Chaos Board and see that all I've read has been
for naught. Which brings me back to the three things I
listed...which I guess all boil down to agreeing with your post on
MANY levels.

Intent:
Intent in most cases is a case by case basis, and can either come
easy to the magickian or come with great effort. Should the need
arise, and I am inspired I know that I will have enough intent to
accomplish anything within the boundaries of magick and possibly
beyond. I am sure that this holds true of even the weakest and
unknowing of man.

Will:
Learning to focus that intent is really where the practice comes
in, as well as the book knowledge. Without a means to focus your
intent you have nothing but wants and desires. It goes a bit
beyond "practice makes perfect" as by performing rituals multiple
times, by reading as much about magick as possible one will learn
to focus their intent to a higher degree.

Faith:
You must believe, in yourself, or in your gods, you must KNOW
yourself. If you have doubts, those doubts will cloud not only
your Focus of Will, but also your intent. Your rituals are bound
to fail if you do not believe they will work when you begin them.
Your faith need not be in the gods, as proven by many a Satanist,
Atheist, and Humanist practitioner...but faith in SOMETHING must
be had. I believe that you can have the lowest self-esteem in the
world, but if your Intent, your Will, and your Faith in your
god(ess) are strong enough you *WILL* succeed...but you MUST leave
all doubt behind!

Not bad. This "Knowing" has kind of always been with me. It was
only the first weeks when i discovered magick that there existed
doubt in me. I don't know..maybe i was Crowley in my previous life
:lol:

Yes. I concider the introduction by DuQuette, Wilson, & co in the
"Illustrated Goeta", and Crowley's own writings are good on the
intent, will, faith thing. It made it much more clear to me.